An increasing number of power generation plants are being designed and constructed to meet the ever increasing demand for electrical power. One type of power plant uses gas turbines to generate electricity.
One way of increasing the power output of a gas turbine is to cool the inlet air fed to the gas turbine. Cooling causes the air to have a higher density, thereby creating a higher mass flow rate through the turbine. The higher the mass flow rate through the turbine, the more power the turbine produces. Cooling the turbine inlet air temperature also increases the turbine's efficiency.
A number of systems can be used to chill the inlet air to a gas turbine. One such system uses a chiller to chill water that is then pumped through a coil. The inlet air is passed over the coil to cool the air. Some plants generate chilled water concurrently with its use. That is, the chilled water is conveyed directly from the chiller to the coil to cool the air at the air inlet to the gas turbine. Alternatively, cool water may be produced at night when electricity demand is relatively low, and thus less expensive, and used during the day when electricity demand is relatively high, and thus more expensive. To store the cool water generated at night, a chilled water storage tank may be used, wherein the storage tank is sized to provide a sufficient quantity of chilled water for gas turbine operations during peak demand hours.
One problem associated with use of a chilled water storage tank is mixing of water within the tank such that the temperature variation of water within the tank is not maintained. That is, it is desirable to maintain variation of water temperatures in the storage tank so that colder water can be used in preference to water having a higher temperature if mixing of the water occurred. Thus, there is need for improving the stratification of cold water from warm water within the chilled water storage tank, particularly while discharging from the chilled water storage tank.
Another problem with energy production is that electricity providers are faced with variable demand. More particularly, if power generation does not immediately respond to closely match the electrical demand, then current fluctuations as well as surges and/or outages can occur with detrimental results. Accordingly, there is a need for methods and systems that assist in quickly changing power generation to match electrical demand.
Yet another problem exists for determining whether coils carrying cooling liquid, such as chilled water, are leaking. If the coils are leaking, the addition of the liquid vapors to the air that feeds the gas turbine could detrimentally influence one or more elements associated with the gas turbines. Accordingly, there is a need for methods and systems that assist in monitoring leakage of liquid from the coils associated with the air inlets to the gas turbines. The present disclosure addresses these and other needs.